But nothing in Cox's trenchant, sensible, and well-written column is inconsistent with those beliefs. The main points of the column, as I read it, are:
1. Bloggers are insisting that the press's failure to laugh at Colbert's routine was due entirely to the press's complicity with the Bush Administration. An alternative view is that they didn't laugh because it wasn't funny.
2. Running a poll to determine whether something is funny reflects a misunderstanding of the concept 'funny.'
3. Insisting that other people laugh at the jokes you enjoy, or suggesting that their failure to do is morally culpable, reflects either a bullying temperament or a misunderstanding of the concept 'joke.'
4. Political humor is a poor substitute for political action."
The Colbert presentation at the White House Correspondents Dinner has certainly generated a lot of discussion, and it is very likely that some bloggers and commenters would have come to assorted different conclussions. Lumping selective comments and pretending that they represent everyone's position is not giving the whole picture.
Running a poll might have made sense within the context of a fierce debate that wa raging for some time: why was Colbert's presentation discussed in the press? Not only it was not making any headlines, but the coverage all around on news.google.com showed plenty of articles talking about the president's double sketch, but no mention whatsoever about Stephen Colberts presentation.
Colbert's presentation was hard to watch. People in the audience were not laughing, and lacking a feedback loop, the comedy act did not benefit from a nurturing ground. The man stood for what he believed in, and did what he did best at what was a unique opportunity and he took it.
The cold reception that Colbert received could be attributed to the press sense of dismay at having someone actually stand up and point what nobody else had the courage to point out. Am sure it was also very uncomfortable to some people "send men into battle", and the wifes of the correspondents, those who were sitting quietly, the ones with the perplex look on their faces probably were too out of touch to understand why this man would make what to them must have been outrageous claims.
If anything, it could be argued that Colbert's comedy was a bit too complex to follow for that an audience that does not understand what is happening in this country. His audience was probably the typing kind that is just happy transcribing the words of wisdom of The Decider.
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